D.A., state police investigate prisoner's death

State police are investigating the death of a 34-year-old Fall River man who died hours after he was found unresponsive in his jail cell April 5 at the Bristol County House of Correction in Dartmouth.

CURT BROWN

DARTMOUTH — State police are investigating the death of a 34-year-old Fall River man, who died hours after he was found unresponsive in his jail cell April 5 at the Bristol County House of Correction, the district attorney's office said.

Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter, said the death of James Nobles is being investigated as an unattended death. There is no suspicion of foul play, he said.

State police are awaiting the results of toxicology tests and further information from the state medical examiner's office regarding the cause, he said.

On average, it takes six to eight weeks for the medical examiner's office to complete toxicology tests, he said.

Nobles was found unresponsive in his jail cell about 5 a.m. on April 5 and was taken to St. Luke's Hospital, New Bedford, according to Miliote. He was admitted to the intensive care unit and pronounced dead at 11:30 a.m.

The Standard-Times learned about the incident from two people — one who called and the other who emailed the newspaper.

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson, contacted Monday night, said the death is under investigation by the DA's office and his department is waiting the toxicology results.

"There was no outward indication of foul play. We want to see what the toxicology report says," he said.

The sheriff would not comment on a possible cause of death. "We don't want to speculate until the (toxicology) results are in," he said.

However, if the cause of death is related to drug use, the sheriff said his staff will begin an investigation to determine how that happened in jail. "We will be right on that," he said.

Nobles had been in custody for about a year and was awaiting trial on armed robbery charges, according to the sheriff.

Hodgson offered his condolences to Nobles' family and said it is difficult enough for family members to have a loved one die in jail, let alone have someone die while in custody.

"We never want to see anyone pass ... who has been in our custody," he said. "We want to make sure we are doing the best in providing care and custody."

This incident marks the third death of a Bristol County prisoner since August 2013.

Two prisoners hanged themselves while in custody, one in August at the Ash Street jail and the other in October at the Bristol County House of Correction, Dartmouth, according to the sheriff's office.

Hodgson said he has mental health workers on his staff and his corrections officers are trained to recognize the warning signs when a prisoner is experiencing adjustment or emotional issues.

"It's very difficult to prevent every situation that occurs in the prison as hard as you try," he said. "These things do happen periodically and we don't like it."